Holiday Heroes
by CharmingWords23
Summary: Little Tommy Queen only wants one thing for Christmas - a Green Arrow action figure - much to Oliver's chagrin and Felicity's amusement. Prequel to "Kindergarten Conference" and "Cover Story".


**A/N: **This is the prequel to "Kindergarten Conference" and "Cover Story." It takes place in the same universe, but about a month before the other stories. I couldn't let this idea go, so I thought it would make a good holiday gift for everyone. :) I hope you enjoy it!

**Holiday Heroes**

It had all started with a stupid commercial on TV. Oliver still remembered the exact morning the weekend after Thanksgiving when he had first seen it. He and his five-year-old son Tommy had been in the living room eating breakfast. They both sat on the floor with their backs against the couch and a bowl of cereal cradled in each of their laps. Tommy crunched loudly on his Fruit Loops, while Oliver swallowed his bites of Cap'n Crunch whole. Felicity was perched on the couch behind Oliver, her knee resting lazily against his shoulder as she read an article on her tablet.

"Dad! Look!" Tommy had shrieked, dropping his spoon to point at the television.

Oliver had looked up to see an advertisement for an action figure – one that resembled Starling City's own Emerald Archer.

"_Is your city in need of saving?_" The deep voice of an announcer crooned in the background as a close-up image of the plastic toy appeared on the screen.

Tommy squealed again and set his bowl on the floor before running up closer to the TV. Felicity looked up over the rim of her glasses to see what the commotion was about.

"_The Green Arrow action figure comes fully equipped with a compound bow, a boxing glove arrow, and a motorcycle,_" the commercial continued while Oliver and Felicity gaped and Tommy began bouncing up and down in excitement.

"_Press the button to hear him talk! 'You have failed this city!'"_ Oliver set his bowl of cereal down and turned to look at Felicity with a stunned expression. Her brows were knitted together in confusion, but there was amusement in her eyes.

"_Get yours today at your local toy store!"_

Tommy clapped and turned around excitedly. "I need it! I need it!" he chanted eagerly, running over to settle into his dad's lap. "Please please please." He folded his hands and fixed his face into a pout he had seen his mom use a few times.

"Felicity?" Oliver stammered.

"I saw it," she gasped, her hand coming up to cover her mouth that was contorting into smile.

"DAD!" Tommy yelled, reaching out and bracketing his father's face with his hands. "Can I have it?!"

With Oliver at a loss for words, Felicity jumped in. "Tommy, we have Hanukkah and Christmas coming up. Maybe you can put it on your wish list."

"Can I make my list right now?" he asked eagerly, abandoning his father and crawling into his mother's lap. "I want to add the Arrow to my list! Did you see it, Mom? It even _talks_!" Felicity giggled and snuggled her son in closer, letting her hand pat her husband's stunned shoulder.

It had been a long month of more commercials and seeing the action figure in store windows. It never failed to make him feel uncomfortable, but he tried not to complain about it too much because of the smiles that would light up his wife and son's faces every time they saw it.

When the "Arsenal" action figure had popped up about a week later, Roy had been ecstatic. The kid had even bought about four of them for himself. Laurel hadn't been as enthusiastic about the "Black Canary" action figure, but it didn't seem to bother her either way. And Barry…Barry had been so excited about "The Flash" action figure that he had sped into the local Toys R Us and arranged a giant display of them before flashing out.

Despite his friends' enthusiasm about being immortalized in plastic doll form, Oliver could not wrap his head around children playing with miniature versions of him.

Felicity understood his reservations, but that didn't stop her from telling him that Tommy would be receiving the figurine from Santa Claus on Christmas (she had decided to save it for Christmas instead of Hanukkah so that Tommy could open it in front of the whole family). He couldn't blame her for buying it for him. It was the only thing the kid had talked about since he saw the commercial about a month ago.

So there they were, gathered around the Christmas tree, Tommy and Sara Diggle organizing the gifts into piles while the rest of the family sat around chatting and drinking eggnog or hot chocolate. Oliver sat on the couch talking with Diggle as Felicity and Lyla stood at the dining room table behind them looking over the Queen and Diggle family Christmas photos that they had just had printed.

"Dad, is it time yet?" Tommy called impatiently from his seat on the floor where he was surrounded by a small stack of gifts.

"You ready for presents little man?" Thea laughed, reaching over to tickle him.

Everyone gathered around in the living room. Oliver pulled Felicity into his lap and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind so that his hands came to rest on her slightly swollen belly. It was just that morning that she had proudly proclaimed to him that she was officially "showing" from her pregnancy with their second child, and he had taken every opportunity since then to have his hands on her stomach.

The gift opening proceeded around the room in an orderly fashion, and everyone received gifts they were happy about. Tommy got some new pajamas from his Aunt Thea and a collection of books from his parents. Sara received a doll and some army-men from her parents and a camo-patterned night dress from her godparents.

Thea and Roy, Diggle and Lyla, and Oliver and Felicity exchanged gifts as well, all of them cheerful and content as the wrapping paper was stuffed into trash bags and the gift bags were folded up and stacked to be stored for next year. Oliver sat in an armchair with Felicity on his lap. Tommy was sprawled out on the floor playing with Sara and her army men.

It was getting late, and all that was left was for the kids to open their gifts from Santa. Tommy and Sara sat in the middle of the room with their legs crossed, waiting patiently while the adults took pictures. Sara opened her gift first and squealed in delight when she saw the boxed set of plastic dinner plates and food. Sara loved to cook with her parents, and for her birthday earlier this year she had been given a miniature kitchen to play in. She rushed over to show her parents her gift and they "ooh-ed" and "ahh-ed" over the plastic food items and how Santa was so smart to have known she wanted that.

When it was Tommy's turn to open his gift from Santa, Felicity gripped Oliver's hand in anticipation as their son was handed the large, brightly wrapped box from Thea. Roy took out his phone to record the event.

Tommy made quick work of tearing the bow off and handing it to his mom (who quickly stuck it on his head, making him giggle) and then ripped the paper off the box in two quick motions.

"The Arrow!" he screamed happily, holding the box in the air. The room erupted into laughter as he jumped up and down and turned the box around to look at the front. "And there's other guys in here too!" he cheered, pressing his face up to the clear plastic on the front that showed all the action figures inside.

"Who's in there?" Felicity asked excitedly.

Tommy looked up at her with a grin. "Arsenal, the Flash, Black Canary, and the Atom! All of them, Mom!"

"Oh cool! I have some of the Arsenal action figures too!" Roy called through his laughter, his arm around Thea's shoulder where she sat next to him.

Tommy hefted the large box up and scurried over to his parents. "Dad, can you open this for me?"

Oliver made quick work of opening the box and cutting the plastic ties away to free the figurines while Tommy watched from his mother's arms where he literally bounced up and down with excitement. He removed the action figures one at a time and handed them to his son, who cheered each time a new doll landed in his hands.

"Uncle Diggle! Does this one look like the real Flash or what?!" Tommy asked as he ran over to the large man on the couch. Diggle opened his arms and hoisted the little boy onto his lap. Diggle had once told Tommy the story of the time he met the Flash and accidentally spilled his French fries everywhere – and Tommy had idolized his uncle (and the story) ever since. Digg had intentionally left out the part where Tommy's parents had been present at the time, knowing that was a conversation they weren't ready to have with their son just yet.

"He sure does!" Digg affirmed, tilting the action figure in Tommy's hand so he could get a better look at it. "The real Flash looks a little younger though." Oliver snorted across the room where he was working on freeing the Black Canary toy. Felicity rolled her eyes good-naturedly and gave him a small shove in the shoulder.

"Tommy, I've got a couple more for you," Oliver called. The little boy jumped down from Diggle's lap and leapt to his father's side where he was handed the Black Canary and Arsenal toys.

"Bring that Arsenal one over here!" Roy called with a laugh. Tommy obeyed and approached his Aunt and Uncle with a curious Sara watching him over his shoulder. Roy took the toy in his hands and turned it over. "I think this one is going to win all the fights," he affirmed, waving it lightly.

"Not against the Canary," Sara chimed in with a smile.

"No way," Tommy argued, "Arsenal could take the Black Canary any day."

"You wish!" Sara contended.

Oliver and Felicity watched the children's disagreement with amusement. Felicity was particularly amused by Roy's frown every time Sara adamantly proclaimed that the Black Canary would 'kick Arsenal's butt'.

"Was the Ray doll really necessary, Felicity?" Oliver teased as he worked the Atom action figure from the plastic confines of the box.

"It came with the set," she explained, draping a hand across his shoulder. He pursed his lips at the unsatisfactory answer, so she pulled his face up and gave him a quick kiss and a smile.

"Won't it be fun to see the Arrow beat him up every day, Oliver?" Diggle supplied helpfully.

Oliver gave a noncommittal grunt, to which Felicity responded by leaning down to whisper in his ear. "Maybe that one will get lost."

A ghost of a smile appeared then, and he turned his head slightly to place a kiss on her hand that was resting on his shoulder.

"Dad, tell Sara that Arsenal would beat Black Canary!" Tommy called from his perch on the couch next to Roy.

"Yeah, tell her, Oliver!" Roy agreed humorously while Thea elbowed him in the ribs.

"I don't know," Oliver shrugged. "I always thought Arsenal looked a little scrawny. What do you think, Felicity?"

"Dad!" Tommy whined.

Felicity laughed and threw her hands in the air. "I'm not getting involved in this one."

"I agree with Sara," Diggle supplied while looking at Roy with a smirk. "I think the Canary could kick Arsenal's butt any day." Sara pumped her fist in the air.

"Don't listen to them, Tommy," Roy dismissed with a wave of his hand.

Oliver finally freed the last figurine from the clutches of the plastic, and discarded the large box onto the floor. He turned the action figure over in his hand to see the miniature likeness of his hooded alter ego. He held it up for his wife to see. "What do you think?" he questioned.

She quirked an eyebrow and studied the figurine and then her husband's amused face. "I think they were too generous with the bulging muscles," she surmised with a smirk.

He grinned and reached out to tickle her sides lightly. She laughed and sat down on his now clear lap, snuggling into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her, letting his thumbs rub softly against her stomach.

"Yay, you finally got the Arrow!" Tommy cheered as he reached to take the last couple of figures from his dad. Tommy made quick work of matching his heroes against each other and beginning an epic battle between them.

"Dad! Watch this!" he called as he positioned the Atom in his left hand and then used his right hand to twirl the Arrow and ram him into the other toy so that the Atom went flying across the room. "And the Arrow wins!" Tommy cheered.

Diggle and Roy clapped and held their stomachs from laughing, and Oliver grinned. Felicity bit her lip to keep her smile at bay. "Great job, buddy!" Oliver called. "You're right, the Arrow would definitely win that one."

"Hey Tommy, bring that Arsenal one over here again!" Roy commanded cheerfully. Tommy did as he was told and brought his toys over to his uncle with a bright smile. "What about this matchup?" Roy held up the Arsenal figure and the Arrow figure.

Tommy laughed, as did the rest of the adults in the room. Sara Diggle was blissfully unaware of the joke going on around her as she arranged her plastic food into meals on her plastic plates to hand out to her family members.

"Roy, I think we all know who would win that one," Oliver smirked.

"Yeah, the Arrow!" Tommy laughed in glee.

"I don't know, I think Arsenal would have a shot," Roy responded indignantly. The matching incredulous looks he received from Tommy and Oliver were enough to make Thea burst into giggles.

"No no no. No way!" Tommy threw his hands in the air to dismiss Roy's crazy claim. Oliver and Felicity looked at each other and grinned at his response.

Tommy scampered back over to his parents, and settled into Oliver's side – letting his father's arm pull him close.

"Dad, this is the best holiday ever," Tommy sighed merrily, his Arrow action figure still clutched in his hands.

"It is a pretty good one, isn't it?" Oliver murmured, placing a kiss on his son's temple. Felicity nodded in agreement, rubbing a hand across her stomach and smiling in contentment.

The remainder of the evening was spent with the kids playing with their toys on the floor while the adults exchanged past Christmas (and Hanukkah) stories. Eventually, the kids were fast asleep and the adults were growing tired as well. Diggle scooped Sara into his arms while Lyla piled their gifts into a single bag. They said their goodbyes, and Roy and Thea weren't far behind.

Before long, the guests were gone and Oliver and Felicity were left snuggled on the couch. The lit Christmas tree and menorah on the fireplace mantle cast a soft glow about the room that created shadows across Tommy's sleeping form on the floor. Oliver laid with his back on the couch, and Felicity was snuggled into his side with her back to the back of the couch. His arm was wrapped around her and game to rest on her hip.

She yawned and buried her face into his neck. "Did you have a good time?" she murmured.

"Mmh – hmm," he mumbled, his chest rumbling against her.

"Me too." She smiled and placed a kiss to his jaw. "I think Tommy liked his gift from Santa."

"You think?" They both glanced over at their sleeping son and saw that he still clutched the Arrow action figure in his hand. He hadn't released it since the moment he had first gotten his hands on it. He had spent the night finding new and exciting ways for the Arrow to beat up the other heroes in the collection.

"He idolizes you, you know," she murmured, letting her eyes flutter closed as she rested her head on his chest and he tucked his chin above it.

"I'm not sure that his hero worship of the Arrow really counts as idolizing me," he responded easily, his hand beginning to rub up and down her hip and waist softly.

She opened her eyes and pushed herself up so that she could look at him more clearly.

"No, he does, Oliver," she assured him. "He might not know you're the hero he looks up to, but he looks up to _you_ anyway. Just because you're his dad."

Oliver was silent. He stared at her like she was the first drop of sunlight he'd seen after an eternity of darkness. She smiled at his expression, having become more accustomed to his intense gazes over the years.

"For the record, you're my hero too," she whispered.

He pulled her back down next to him and leaned over to capture her lips in his. She met his lips in a familiar way, their breaths mixing together as his nose brushed against hers. The warm pressure of his mouth on hers and the way his hand wondered down her hip towards the inside of her thigh made her sigh in happiness.

"Merry Christmas, Oliver," she breathed against his lips.

He nipped playfully at her bottom lip and then smiled against her. "Happy Hanukkah, Felicity."


End file.
